Lorna Luft
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Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952 in Santa Monica, California) is the daughter of the legendary singer/actress, Judy Garland and Judy's third husband and manager, Sidney Luft. As Garland's daughter, Lorna is the half-sister of superstar Liza Minnelli.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Childhood and Early Life
Born on November 21st, 1952 to parents Sid Luft and Judy Garland, and half-sister to Liza Minnelli. It was during her pregnancy with Lorna that Judy Garland tried to cut back and control her prescription drug usage, seeing as she had become dependent on them. Fearing that complete withdrawal would trigger a miscarriage, Judy sought professional help to monitor her drug intake during her pregnancy. Shortly before giving birth, Judy became convinced she would die giving birth to her daughter Lorna, and even planned a fare-well party, inviting many A-listers in Hollywood. Her fears turned out to be unfounded as she gave birth to Lorna through a caesarean procedure.[1]
She toured with her mother and brother, Joey Luft, in a summer concert tour in 1967, culminating in a run at the Palace Theater in New York City. An album of the Palace show was recorded and released on the ABC Paramount label under the title Judy Garland At Home at the Palace: Opening Night.
[edit] Present Day
Luft currently tours (nationally and internationally) in a multi-media production called Songs My Mother Taught Me, performing many songs made famous by her mother. She lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, musician Colin R. Freeman, and her children Jesse (b. April 1984) and Vanessa (b. September 1990) from her first marriage to musician and artist manager Jake Hooker.
[edit] Autobiography
She is the author of the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: Living with the Legacy of Judy Garland. Among its more astounding revelations is that she had a romance with Barry Manilow.
[edit] Me and My Shadows
In 2001, Luft's autobiography was translated in a television miniseries, titled "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" [[2]] It starred Judy Davis as the adult Judy Garland, with Tammy Blanchard playing Judy in her teenage years. Hugh Laurie portrayed Vincente Minnelli, Victor Garber as Sid Luft, and Marsha Mason as Ethel Gumm.
The mini-series was a critical hit was a ratings bonanza for ABC on both nights it aired - something unusual for a television biopic. The show picked up five Emmys, pulling off a rare feat of two actressess winning Emmys in the same year for playing the same roles; Judy Davis and Tammy Blanchard.
[edit] Theatrical Credits
She made her Broadway debut in Promises, Promises, and later starred in Extremities alongside Farrah Fawcett.
In 1996, she starred in an Irish production of Follies in Dublin with Enda Markey, Dave Willetts and Millicent Martin. Her appearance was critically acclaimed by Irish and British theater critics.
In 2002, she starred as Mama Rose in the sold-out University of Richmond production of Gypsy (see Gypsy: A Musical Fable.)
Nov 2006 - Jan 2007 starred in Irving Berlin's White Christmas UK (stage Musical based on the film)
[edit] Films
Notable films include Where the Boys Are '84, Grease 2 and 54.
[edit] Television
Luft was a regular on the M*A*S*H spin-off Trapper John, M.D..
[edit] Recordings
Singles
- Our Day Will Come (Epic Records single)
- Long Time (European single)
- Born Again (European single)
- Where the Boys Are (U.S. Single)
- The Whole World's Gone Crazy (Dance Single)
Albums
- Songs My Mother Taught Me (2007) (coming soon)
Cast Albums
- Grease 2 (film soundtrack)
- Crazy For You (touring company)
- Girl Crazy
[edit] Other recording works
She released a single version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", which was an electronic duet with her mother.
She was briefly a backup singer for Blondie, and appears on their album Eat to the Beat.
